Tag Archives: speculative

Coraline, by Neil Gaiman

Trish from Trish’s Reading Nook reviewed this book recently. For some reason – probably because I read so little modern fiction – I’d never heard of it. Her review excited me, and I wanted to get my hands on this … Continue reading

Posted in 2008, Children's, Prose | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood

Spoilers. Better never means better for everyone, he says. It always means worse, for some. This book comes so highly recommended that I feel bad saying the dreaded words: I didn’t like it. I wanted to like it. But I … Continue reading

Posted in 2008, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The Diamond of Darkhold, by Jeanne DuPrau

The Diamond of Darkhold is the fourth and final book of the Ember series by Jeanne DuPrau. The book takes the people of Ember, joined with the people of Sparks from book 2, through their first winter together. It’s a … Continue reading

Posted in 2008, Children's, Prose | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Giver, by Lois Lowry

You know, I’d thought that, as a kid, I’d read a lot of Lois Lowry. I didn’t recall which books specifically, but I remembered her name. A quick check on Wikipedia, however, reveals to me that before Number the Stars, … Continue reading

Posted in 2008, Children's, Prose | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Nine Lives to Murder, by Marion Babsen

Spoilers. This book was…okay. Not my favorite, but then again, I’ve not read anything in the mystery genre since my youngin’ days of R.L. Stine’s The Babysitter (not the best recommendation for the genre, I might add). I was therefore … Continue reading

Posted in 2008, Adult, Prose | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Prophet of Yonwood, by Jeanne DuPrau

The Prophet of Yonwood is much, much better than The People of Sparks, though not quite as good as The City of Ember. It is, like Sparks, definitely a juvenile book, complete with sections of fact completely brushed over. But … Continue reading

Posted in 2008, Children's, Prose | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The People of Sparks, by Jeanne DuPrau

Spoilers for the first book in the series. The People of Sparks takes up where The City of Ember left off. Lina and Doon have flung down the instructions for escaping Ember, and Lina’s guardian picks them up. Within a … Continue reading

Posted in 2008, Children's, Prose | Tagged | 2 Comments

City of Ember, by Jeanne DuPrau

The two main characters in The City of Ember, Lina and Doon, are twelve-year-olds who have just been assigned their jobs in the city of Ember. Ember is a city that lives in complete darkness, with lamps to light up … Continue reading

Posted in 2008, Children's, Prose | Tagged | 3 Comments

The Lost Stradivarius, by John Meade Falkner (audio)

Yes, I suppose there are some spoilers in this review. Contrary to my previous assertions that I don’t like audiobooks, I actually enjoyed this one. Of course, it was a lot shorter than my last attempt with Librivox, and that … Continue reading

Posted in 2008, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

We, by Yevgeny Zamyatin

Spoilers. This is one of the weirdest books I’ve ever read. I finished reading it a couple days ago; I’ve been pondering it since and still I can’t make heads or tails of it. Seriously, I think about three quarters … Continue reading

Posted in 2008, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments